Healing Word and short rests.

[Wepfmokk]

Healing Word
Encounter
Special: You can use this power twice per encounter, but only
once per round.
Target: You or one ally
Effect: The target can spend a healing surge and regain an
additional 1d6 hit points.

In my group, nobody uses vanilla surges. After every encounter the group rests up to 20 minutes (4 short rests), so that the cleric can use Healing Word on every member until everyone is at full health. Does this work as intended? Because i dont like it at all. I think healing surges should be limited resource, but in my group nobody comes close to expending all. Healing word is effectively doubling every players surges.

And they even use this tactic when under pressure of time. Any suggestions?

 

[On Puget Sound]

That's what clerics are for. I think it's working as intended. No reason you can't interrupt them after the first short rest, though, if they haven't taken proper precautions.

 

[Liebot]

Punish them for taking too much time, or throw more encounters at them or tougher monsters to balance their resource maximization/conservation.

 

[TimeOut]

Healing Word

In my group, nobody uses vanilla surges. After every encounter the group rests up to 20 minutes (4 short rests), so that the cleric can use Healing Word on every member until everyone is at full health. Does this work as intended?

Yes.
4 short rests equal 6 uses of the healing word power, or 8 if you want to keep it discharged until the next short rest.

And they even use this tactic when under pressure of time. Any suggestions?

Not enough pressure. If they have the time to rest for 20 minutes, they seem hardly pressured.

Edit: I failed my spot check.

 

[Otterscrubber]

Healing surges are limited resources, which is why it is smart to do what you can to conserve them. I'm pretty sure this is working as intended as in the PHB there is a section about using encounter powers outside of combat and the specific example given is a healing power, either the cleric's or the warlords I forget which.

If you have the time between encounters to use it, this is not only allowed, I think it is tactically very sound.

 

[wedgeski]

And they even use this tactic when under pressure of time. Any suggestions?

They're reaping the benefit of having a cleric in the group. I don't see how adding 3 or 4 points of healing to a surge is "effectively doubling" their Healing Surges though. What am I missing?

 

[hong]

Uhh? Healing surges _are_ a limited resource, and this spell doesn't change that. The extra +1d6 healing does come in handy, though.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

They're reaping the benefit of having a cleric in the group. I don't see how adding 3 or 4 points of healing to a surge is "effectively doubling" their Healing Surges though. What am I missing?

On low levels, this comes close - hp are around 20 points, and a single surge is thus around 5 points of healing. It's more a 50 % increase, though IIRC, Clerics also add an ability modifier to their healing, so +100 % seems to fit.

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It works as intended, I'd say. If you want to challenge your party more, interrupt their longer breaks. If you want to give them some more leeway, just don't. The advantage of the party using this tactic is that they will go longer each day, since they get more out of their healing surges.

 

[neoweasel]

They're reaping the benefit of having a cleric in the group. I don't see how adding 3 or 4 points of healing to a surge is "effectively doubling" their Healing Surges though. What am I missing?

Well, a healing word will heal (surge value) + 1d6 + Wis Mod. Assuming a Wis of 16 (not unreasonable) that averages out to (surge value) + 7. If their surge value is less than 8 (meaning they have less than 32 HP which is nearly guaranteed for 1st level characters), Healing Word will AT LEAST double their Healing Surges. Not such an issue at higher levels, but...

As to the OP, I'd suggest you talk to your players about what's bothering you about their behavior. I'm quite sure that, so long as you are both willing to act like reasonable human beings, this can be easily worked out with a minimum of fuss on both sides.

 

[Harye]

This is only an issue at lower levels, where the modifier and the 1d6 matter. I'd actually consider this smart play and conserving a resource.

However, maybe throw harder fights at them, or attach a stronger daily or encounter ability onto the monsters they are fighting. Basically, force them to use healing surges in the fight.

Side note, the actual purpose of the cleric is to make healing surges less of an issue. Their secondary role is healing surge conservation (ala cure minor wounds and its bretheren). If he is making them less of an issue, its a player performing his role well. Maybe take a wait and see approach for now, and if it's still too easy at level 6-9, then change your encounter design. Not saying you are making easy fights, just saying your players did well for themselves and need a tougher set of encounters.